General Summary
An Oath
Last night after Sylke's revelations about secretly working for House ELgata I made an oath to, "One Truth, One Fight, One Death", and was joined by Ugnan and Sylke, and after a brief pause, by Cherry and Sharna. An Oath is a powerful thing. It's not for the faint of heart.
Into the Shudders
Late the next night we approach the asylum and see two guards at the entrance. We scout the place and spot a couple of windows in the upper floor around the back that we look like we could get through. Cherry clambers up easily. Unfortunately, Sharna is unable to find purchase on the slick surface and alerts a guard. Sharna scrambles over the yard wall while I boost Ugnan over. I was seen by the guard, however, as I haul myself over.
The patrolling guards are on edge, but put it down to street kids.
We time another attempt between a guard rounds. I make hard work of the climb (this new armour is really inconvenient), however, we eventually get up. From the rooftop I manage to belay down to the window bars and after five minutes have jimmied the bars away from the wall. We sneak into a room beyond. Cherry hears some whispering from behind a double-door and we spot a light and muffled voices from stairs leading down. We wait a bit and Cherry tests the door and unlocks it. We notice that this floor is very very cold.
I sneak through the door with Sylke lighting the corridor and we move South. In a room at the end of the passage we spot a book with pages turning by themselves. As I step into the room a ghost appears and moves towards me – by Charon, what is this thing? Not wanting to wait to find out I swing at it with Tarnak's Axe. Why do I always feel that I desperately need to piss when the fighting starts? My axe hits as we melee, but my chest tightens due to the intense cold and the ghost gets in a raking slash to my abdomen. I'm bleeding badly, blood slicking down my stomach and legs. I get struck again in my left thigh and nearly pass out due to the pain and cold. Ugnan hands me some medicinal leaves with a command to, "chew them now". Ugnan then transfers my major side wound to himself – how can anyone willingly accept so much pain? Sharna throws the book the ghost was reading at it, but misses – Cherry notices that a silver ring rolls out from between its pages.
Sylke hits it with an accurate shock bolt to the leg and it drifts across and attacks Sylke. I get two good blows in and it finally dissipates.
We all drop down next to Ugnan and watch him as he heals before our eyes. And that raking slash I received is gone, the only mark left is the blood. Not even a scar. My lungs and chest feel strangely tight – have I suffered some residual effect on my health from the ghost? With the immediate threat of bleeding out passed, we heal using herbs and take a breather, looking wide eyed at each other. That was close.
The Riddle of the Ring
Sylke picks up the ring and examines it. An Elvish inscription reads, 'For she who forever holds my heart'. Sylke recognises it as magical.
We explore other chambers and find some beds with manacles and a room full of notes scattered on the floor. Another stairway has been blocked and another we can hear muffled voices. At a locked door, covered with gouge marks, Sharna detects another brutally cold draft of air coming from beyond. We decide to rest, but before we tackle whatever is behind it. Ugnan suggested that I bend the bars at the window straight again to maintain our deception.
We hunker down in the room we found with beds to sleep and rest.
At dawn we prepare to explore the other area of the house, where the second cold area was detected. Before we proceed, Ugnan remembers we haven't skimmed through the book – it was a Journal from one of the Wardens – at the back of the book we discover that the Warden had bought a ring for his love, and fellow Warden, Elisora. We assume that the second ghost is the poor dead bastard's love, and we make a hopeful plan to produce the ring for her and avoid further combat. Cherry unlocks the door and we creep into a passageway with two more doors. Cherry creeps over to examine them.
In a room against the East Wall we spot a chair rocking. Sylke whispers Elisora's name and we see another matronly ghost materialize. Sylke shows her the ring, puts it on a table, and the ghost of Elisora moves across, picks it up with a ghostly hand, reads the engraving, and dissipates. By Cas, that definitely beat fighting it. On the rest of the top floor, we find nothing except more patient notes, which Sylke takes. I wonder if we could have avoided fighting the ghost of that poor warden? Cran, you always lead with your fists not your mouth don't you?
The Search Begins
Cherry leads us sneaking down a set of rear stairs to the floor where the guards are stationed. We descend to a room full of modern construction equipment. As we begin exploring further Sharna hears voices from the South. We duck back into the store-room and evade them. Sylke prepares and casts invisibility on a soiled blanket in the room, and Cherry uses it to explore the lower floor, sneaking as she goes. The rest of us wait quietly. I still need a piss. Damn.
Cherry discovers a dining area, a 'camp kitchen' and a skeleton slumped in a room. In one of the last rooms she explores she comes across a set of stairs leading down. We stop to plan our next move.
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